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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > Cosmetic and Lighting Modifications (exterior/interior) > DIY on crack open the e90 LCI headlight?



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      05-29-2012, 09:57 PM   #1
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DIY on crack open the e90 LCI headlight?

I can't find any DIY on opening the e90 LCI headlight. Does anyone have any useful link? I want to install the umnitza rings.
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      05-29-2012, 10:57 PM   #2
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There is one by longtran. Not an easy task. I think a lot of vendors who retrofit cut them open.
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      06-01-2012, 12:30 PM   #3
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knowledge, time, patience.
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      06-01-2012, 02:14 PM   #4
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a heat gun and a screw driver. Those are the only 2 tools you need. It will take between 1-2 hours to open each one. Take your time and make sure the plastic is not enough to be pliable and be sure to go slow and dont crack the plastic at all.
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      10-07-2012, 02:03 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LuxAngelEyes View Post
a heat gun and a screw driver. Those are the only 2 tools you need. It will take between 1-2 hours to open each one. Take your time and make sure the plastic is not enough to be pliable and be sure to go slow and dont crack the plastic at all.
does the same concept apply to pre lci, or do you have to cut them and if cutting is necessary do you cut the lenses or the housing.
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      10-07-2012, 09:31 AM   #6
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The sealant between the two are the same...as for cutting. no one really shares their process on the vendor side of things. people usually heat and pry like mark mentioned.
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      10-09-2012, 12:25 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mapleridge View Post
The sealant between the two are the same...as for cutting. no one really shares their process on the vendor side of things. people usually heat and pry like mark mentioned.

i would HIGHLY recommend NOT cutting the lens off. Once you do that there's no guarantee that you will ever get them water right again or even secure

The only save way to do it is heat up the black plastic, gently pry it up.
Do that all around the headlight first so you can see the end of the clear lens
Stick a screwdriver under the clear lens to separate the glue
Go all around the headlight separating the lens and it should be completely loose
do NOT force the lens free at all.
if you have Xenon headlights disconnect the angel eyes since they have a small tab holding them in place

Once open scrape off all the glue from the black housing
scrape off all the old glue from the lens
re-form the black housing with a heatgun and plyers

When your ready apply a thick bead of silicone adhesive to the housing and pop the lens back in.
Double check everywhere to make sure there's a 100% seal.
wait a day for it to dry and cross your fingers
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      10-09-2012, 12:34 PM   #8
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Mark, your helpfulness makes me what to be some Lux lights (besides the fact I like the look).
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      10-12-2012, 03:24 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LuxAngelEyes View Post
i would HIGHLY recommend NOT cutting the lens off. Once you do that there's no guarantee that you will ever get them water right again or even secure

The only save way to do it is heat up the black plastic, gently pry it up.
Do that all around the headlight first so you can see the end of the clear lens
Stick a screwdriver under the clear lens to separate the glue
Go all around the headlight separating the lens and it should be completely loose
do NOT force the lens free at all.
if you have Xenon headlights disconnect the angel eyes since they have a small tab holding them in place

Once open scrape off all the glue from the black housing
scrape off all the old glue from the lens
re-form the black housing with a heatgun and plyers

When your ready apply a thick bead of silicone adhesive to the housing and pop the lens back in.
Double check everywhere to make sure there's a 100% seal.
wait a day for it to dry and cross your fingers
So you reuse the old glue?
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      10-12-2012, 04:41 PM   #10
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When he said scrape off the glue, he meant to clean it off. The silicone adhesive is the new 'glue'.
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      10-12-2012, 05:13 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NavZ View Post
When he said scrape off the glue, he meant to clean it off. The silicone adhesive is the new 'glue'.
ahhh
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      10-12-2012, 06:33 PM   #12
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Well already i wouldn't take his advice cause headlights are sealed with butyl tape not silicone.

You have to cut then open. No amount of heating and prying will open perma-sealed headlights.
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      10-12-2012, 11:29 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gugs View Post
Well already i wouldn't take his advice cause headlights are sealed with butyl tape not silicone.

You have to cut then open. No amount of heating and prying will open perma-sealed headlights.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14156
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      10-17-2012, 08:40 PM   #14
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I found a DIY video on E92 headlights. I don't know if it's the same for E90. Can someone chime in? The video shows that you have to use a soldering pen to glue the outer ring. That's serious work as you have to melt piece of the headlight bezel. Can you just use glue for the work?


Last edited by E90ROXS; 10-17-2012 at 08:46 PM..
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      10-17-2012, 09:03 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by E90ROXS View Post
I found a DIY video on E92 headlights. I don't know if it's the same for E90. Can someone chime in? The video shows that you have to use a soldering pen to glue the outer ring. That's serious work as you have to melt piece of the headlight bezel. Can you just use glue for the work?

as far as opening this diy won't work. As stated previously, it is a permanent bond that needs serious prying or cutting. Don't know about melting the housing for the rings.
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      10-18-2012, 11:48 AM   #16
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I've seen some tools on Alibaba that can be used to open the housings. I'm sure that you can find the equivalent of them in a hardware store. They look like some sort of midevil torture device that you can stick the headlights and slowly "crank" open...let me do some digging.

EDIT: here's the tool I saw. http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/53...fit_tools.html his price is way, way too high, it looks like a trim removal tool to me. i'm not sure what it's called though, but head down to your local awesome indy shop and show them the add for the tool and ask them if they know what it's called! If I find out, I'll update this. I imagine you could break the seal with this, and use Popsicle sticks to keep the headlight open.

And an E92 Pre-LCI isn't permasealed like the E90 Pre LCi and E90 LCI. So we have it much, much more difficult.
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      10-18-2012, 11:49 PM   #17
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that tool doesn't look like it has the power to get it open given the feedback people who have done the retrofit have provided. Don't know....would be worth a shot if it is a cheap enough to buy.
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      11-11-2012, 04:01 AM   #18
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The tool prices is USD30
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      11-11-2012, 10:13 AM   #19
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A screwdriver is a lot cheaper than that pair of panel pliers...lol I doubt they would work very well by themselves either way.
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      11-11-2012, 12:39 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tomking View Post
The tool prices is USD30
Right, that tool is over-priced. I know you can find one cheaper than that for a fact.

And I think a tool with a larger surface area will prove advantageous over a screwdriver.
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      11-12-2012, 12:01 AM   #21
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I opened my LCI xenons tonight. That tool is not going to make or break you. You need two people or a really good set up with heat and prying. First light took a long time and the top edge of plastic had to be done away with. It will still seal just fine. I tweaked the process on the second light and we had it off in about 30 minutes or less and there was almost zero damage or distorting of any plastic on the housing. I will make a thread to show the end result when it is all done. Just have to order the orion v4's.
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      11-16-2012, 12:49 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LuxAngelEyes
Quote:
Originally Posted by mapleridge View Post
The sealant between the two are the same...as for cutting. no one really shares their process on the vendor side of things. people usually heat and pry like mark mentioned.

i would HIGHLY recommend NOT cutting the lens off. Once you do that there's no guarantee that you will ever get them water right again or even secure

The only save way to do it is heat up the black plastic, gently pry it up.
Do that all around the headlight first so you can see the end of the clear lens
Stick a screwdriver under the clear lens to separate the glue
Go all around the headlight separating the lens and it should be completely loose
do NOT force the lens free at all.
if you have Xenon headlights disconnect the angel eyes since they have a small tab holding them in place

Once open scrape off all the glue from the black housing
scrape off all the old glue from the lens
re-form the black housing with a heatgun and plyers

When your ready apply a thick bead of silicone adhesive to the housing and pop the lens back in.
Double check everywhere to make sure there's a 100% seal.
wait a day for it to dry and cross your fingers
I cut mine hahaha and they came out great and they don't leak one bit ) even withstood Hurricanne sandy
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